Thursday, July 20, 2006

How about we start with a game? It’s a bit of a twist on an old familiar one - we’ll call this version “Where’s RJ?”

You should be able to find me in this photo rockin' my trademark undershirt look... There ya go!I've been thinking about and organizing towards radical change in the USA and the world since the late 90s. As the title of the blog suggests, the Zapatistas of Southern Mexico have been a big inspiration and reference point for me during much of this time.

This blog is for people who want to stay informed and dialogue on what's going on with the Zapatistas and the national and "intergalactic" initiatives they are building - especially in terms of how these things relate to what we're doing in New York City and, more generally, in the USA. A bunch of different people have said that they need a space of information and conversation regarding this and so here it is.

If you want to know more about where I'm coming from, a good starting place is an article that my partner and I wrote a couple years ago for Left Turn called Global Justice Movement: Beyond the Summits. If you want to know who the Zapatistas are, what they’ve been up to, how they see the world, and what they plan to do in the future, check out their Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle. And if you want to catch up on the Other Campaign - the national initiative that has grown out of the Sixth Declaration - then check out this recent interview Mary Ann Tenuto-Sanchez and I did on Against the Grain.

I’ve been doing a lot more writing since the Zapatistas released their Sixth Declaration a year ago. As part of the Ricardo Flores Magón Brigade, I lived in Oaxaca, Mexico at the beginning of the year to report for Narco News on the Other Campaign.

Since returning to Brooklyn, I’ve continued with the usual work to pay the bills and with local organizing work. I've continued to write on the Zapatistas as well, mainly for Left Turn's magazine and web site, and also for Narco News and Critical Resistance Oakland's The Abolitionist.

I've received alot of amazing response on previous pieces and would love for those dialogues to happen more publicly. I'll update weekly and respond to comments as they come along... although I'm not gonna waste alot of time with the haters (especially if you're anonymous).

This is one more space for information and dialogue as the Zapatistas make their biggest moves since rising up over 12 years ago... and invite us to join with them.

Bare minimum, "zapagringo" will be a way for family and friends to keep track of me :-)

13 comments:

Sounds good kaz...you know you kinda inspired me to get my act together on this...

Was wondering why I was getting all the comments in my e-mail account instead of on the page and just realized that it was set so that only people who were registered could post...sorry about that ya'll, I'm still learning the tek-mology :-)

two of my favorite people and now my favorite blogs - rj and kazembe!! now i'ma have to go ahead and finally get my own blog together, so i can tell alla my "ole folks back in the day" organizing stories (and my "what i love/hate about how it's all going now"). seriously, rj, thanks for giving us another way to check in on what's going on in that brain and what you're seeing as you work locally and globally...

according to the NY Post today (my favorite newspaper cause people give it out for free and usually has nudity in the 1st 2 pages), bloggers are most likely to be suburban white males between the age of 18-29. also they write about their personal lives.

this is news that america needs to know.

rock on, rj. keep bucking those trends as the urban gringo keeping it personal and political.

HEY R.J!!!Look at me go leaving a comment on your blog. Ok so im sorry this is not going to be productive at all i just feel as your little sister i have/want to leave a comment. well umm this is really cool and uhh keep up the good work. because you are basically the best and most amazing big brother like ever

Hey RJ! The picture of you sticking out your tongue is great :). Great blog site. Little nervous to open yet another account of some sort. I was actually talked into doing a myspace by the guys at work and I already regret it :). I hope all is well there in NYC. Between our schedules, I wonder if we'll ever get time to speak :(. The work you're doing is great. I admit I'm a bit embarrassed that I'm not involved anymore. I do feel the itch to get back in the street though sometime soon :). Tell everyone in NYC I said Hi.